Carbon Game Discussion Questions
Whole Class Observations
Are there any
observations about
the game you would
like to share?
Group Explanation Round #2
Now that we’ve played the game, let’s try to construct another explanation to
answer this question.
How does a fox build the muscles in its leg using carbon from the
air??
• Step 1: A carbon atom is in the atmosphere. What happens
next?
• Step 2: (any suggestions?)
• Step 3:
• Step 4:
• Step 5:
• Step 6:
How does this explanation differ from our first explanation?
Hmmm…
1. Why are there no arrows in the game that go
from the air to rabbits?
2. Why are there no arrows in the game that go
from the soil to the grass?
Start/End Graph
1. Look at your worksheets to find out where
you started the game.
2. Tell your teacher where you started the
game, and where you ended the game.
3. Look at the graph that is generated with
these data. It is called Start/End Graph.
4. What do you notice about the two graphs?
Start/End Graph
1. Which pools got larger during the game?
2. Which pools got smaller during the game?
3. For the producer pool to get bigger, which
other pools have to change size?
4. For the carnivore pool to get bigger, which
other pools have to change size?
Start/End Graph
1. If the amount of carbon stored in the
biomass of ecosystems in declining, what
does this tell us about the amount of carbon
stored in the atmosphere?
Visitation Graph
1. Divide into groups of 4 or 5.
2. With your group, count how many times you
visited each station. (Hint: this information
should be recorded on the front of your
game card).
3. Report to your teacher the number of times
your group visited the atmosphere,
producers, herbivores, carnivores, and
decomposers station.
Visitation Graph
Now look at the graph that shows how many
times we visited each station.
1. Which pools were visited the most during the
game?
2. Which pools were visited least during the
game?
Visitation Graph
1. For a carbon atom to get from the air to the
fox, which pools does it need to visit?
2. Can a carbon atom go from the air directly to
the fox? Why or why not?
3. How could a carbon atom get from the rabbit
to the air?
Visitation Graph
1. Why do you think carbon visits some pools
more than others?
2. In the game we just played, where was most
of the biomass stored?
3. Do you think this represents where the
biomass is stored in real ecosystems?
Process Graph
Now it’s time to look at the last graph. As a
carbon atom, you went through four different
processes during the game that transformed you
from one form of carbon to another. We call
these carbon-transforming processes. In total,
you went through four different carbon
transforming processes. What where the four
you went through?
Process Graph
1. Divide into groups of 4 or 5.
2. With your group, count how many times you
were transformed by each carbon-transforming
process. (Hint: this information should be
recorded on the front of your game card).
3. Report to your teacher the number of times
your group was transformed by photosynthesis,
biosynthesis, digestion, and cellular respiration.
Process Graph
Look at the graph that shows the carbontransforming processes for the entire class.
1. Which carbon-transforming process
happened more, photosynthesis or cellular
respiration?
2. Photosynthesis rates are higher than cellular
respiration rates in a growing ecosystem.
Why do you think this is?
Process Graph
1. Imagine that photosynthesis rates in this
ecosystem increased by a lot. Based on your
experience in the game, do you think this would
increase or decrease the amount of biomass in
this ecosystem?
2. Imagine that photosynthesis rates in this
ecosystem increased by a lot. Based on your
experience in the game, do you think this would
increase or decrease the amount of respiration
in this ecosystem?
Process Graph
1. If the rates of photosynthesis slowed down in
an ecosystem, what do you think would
happen to the size of the producer,
herbivore, and carnivore populations?
Process Graph
1. Organic molecules have C-C and C-H bonds.
Inorganic molecules do not have C-C or C-H
bonds. At which station were you an
inorganic form of carbon? (Hint: there is only
one)
2. At which stations were you an organic form
of carbon?
Process Graph
1. Which carbon-transforming process
transformed you from inorganic form of
carbon into an organic form of carbon?
2. Which carbon-transforming process
transformed you from an organic form of
carbon into an inorganic form of carbon?
3. At which station of the game did this
happen?
Material & Transformation
Process Graph
1. According to the game, what is the only way
that inorganic carbon transformed into
organic biomass?
2. What would be the result on the planet if
inorganic carbon didn’t get transformed into
organic carbon?
Process Graph
1. Which carbon-transforming process
transformed you from a small organic molecule
into a LARGE organic molecule?
2. At which stations in the game did this process
happen?
Process Graph
1. Which carbon-transforming process
transformed you from a LARGE organic
molecule into a small organic molecule?
2. At which stations in the game did this process
happen?
Application
1. Break into groups of 4 or 5.
2. As a group, it is your goal to describe the path
that a carbon atom takes to get from the
atmosphere into the muscle of a fox. The first
person in the circle should begin by describing
how the carbon atom gets out of the
atmosphere. Keep going until you have
explained how the carbon atom gets to the
muscle of a fox. This may take many times
around the circle!
Whole Group Sharing
Which group would like to share their story of
how the carbon goes from the air to the muscle
of the fox?
Was that supposed to be real?
The game you just played is a model of a real
ecosystem, which means that it represents
some parts of an ecosystem, but with
limitations. This means what happened in the
game is not exactly how things happen in a real
ecosystem. With a partner, brainstorm about
ways you noticed that this ecosystem is
different from real ecosystems. When you are
done, share your ideas with the class.
Here are at least 5 ways that the game differs from real ecosystems.
How many of these did your class mention? Are there any ways you
thought of that are not on this list?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If a rabbit or fox eats you, there is a good chance that you will not
be digested. You may be passed through the digestive system and
exit the body of the fox or rabbit as solid waste.
Rabbits don’t only eat grass, and foxes don’t only eat rabbits.
If you go to the decomposer station, there is a good chance that
you will never be digested. You could remain there for some time
as organic material that has not been digested. This is why soil is
such a large carbon sink!
In rabbits and foxes, carbon atoms are sometimes biosynthesized
into fat. In this case, the fat may be used in cellular respiration
and the carbon atoms will return to the air after a period of time.
This is not represented in the game.
It is also possible that a carbon atom in an animal is
biosynthesized into a growing offspring in the mother. In this
case, the carbon atom would travel from the parent to the body
of the offspring.
Think Pair Share
Find a partner. Consider the answer to this question.
1. Scientists who study ecosystems are called ecologists.
Ecologists have noticed that the amount of carbon
stored in biomass of ecosystems is declining all over
the planet. Why do you think this might be?
2. How do you think the following things might
contribute to a decrease in stored biomass in
ecosystems?
–
–
–
–
Forest Fires
Deforestation
Over-grazing
Desertification
Application
Many ecologists are worried about increasing
rates of deforestation around the planet. Based
on what you saw in the game, why do you think
that ecologists are worried about increasing
rates of deforestation?
Application
Climate change is caused by an imbalance of (too much)
carbon in the atmosphere. Recall that in the game, the only
way for carbon to become part of organic biomass was
through photosynthesis. If there were too much carbon in the
atmosphere, what would be the best way to remove it?
1.
2.
3.
4.
I would increase the amount of photosynthesis on the
planet.
I would decrease the amount of photosynthesis on the
planet.
I would increase the amount of plants on the planet.
I would decrease the amount of plants on the planet.
Application
1. What are some things we do that increase
the levels of carbon in the atmosphere?
2. What are some things we can do that
decrease levels of carbon in the atmosphere?
Application
Imagine that 15 million trees were cut down in
an Indonesian rain forest.
1. What would this do to rates of photosynthesis
on the planet?
2. What would this do to the amount of organic
biomass on the planet?
3. What would this do to the amount of inorganic
carbon in the atmosphere?
Application
Imagine that 15 million trees were planted in
the Gobi Desert to stop the desert from
spreading.
1. What would this do to the amount of
photosynthesis on the planet?
2. What would this do to the amount of biomass
on the planet?
3. What would this do to the amount of carbon in
the atmosphere?